Evidence for the α Decay of the New Isotope 169Os

In a series of ²⁰Ne bombardments of ¹⁵⁶Dy a new α emitter was identified with a half-life of 3.0 +/- 0.5 sec and an α-decay energy of 5.56 +/- 0.02 MeV. On the basis of α-decay systematics and the variation of its yield with bombarding energy, the most likely nuclidic assignment for this α group is ¹⁶⁹Os.